Mining drill



Sept- 15, 1952 E. J. HUcKsHoLD l 2,610,829

IIIIIIIIIII f Patented Sept. 16, 1952 'UNITED S TATES PATENT UF'F'I CE2,610,829 n ,MINING DRILL Elmer J.;Huckshold, St. Lous,'Mo,., assignerto 'Central Mine Equipment Company, StQIaouis, li/Io., a'corporation ofMissouri polinomioctober,12, 1949, serial Nei-20am claims. (c1. c55-e9)This -invention ,relates generally to mining drills.. particularly tndrllls of thecharacter wherein `the cutting bits are removable andreplaceable, Vvbeingheld, in position; by a wedge.

Mining drills of the character above referred to are in common use,typicalexamples being shown by the ,patents of\;Cook:1\l0s..`2,0l0,5,09, 2,010,510, 2,109,`6,13and.2,237l133. ,Suchmining drills are provided with a permanent head, adapted to be in theart,..thecriteron,being that the-wedge have one endl (usually theouterlffexposed to. receive a blow in...ar.direction,which Will-tightenthe wedge and bitsin. the socket, andthat it have its other end exposed.to .receive-a .blow which will loosen the wedgeeand bit assembly withinthe socket.

In the normal use of such mining drills, vibration of thebitstends'tmgand frequently does, loosen, the assembly of bitand wedge,with resultant loss of the parts. The bits are quite commonly of thethrow away type, but the wedge is intended .tobewazpermanent :part ofthe apparatus.

The objectof the present invention, generally stated,is Atoprovde amining drill of the vcharacter aforesaid, wherein the Wedge is Vsecureagainst accidental loss from thesocketin Athe head.

.A furtherobject of the rinvention is to provide aminngdrillof thecharacter aforesaidrwhere-k Figure 3 is a perspective view of .a typicalwedge aseniilvlfyed inthe head shown in Figure 1. but provided with the.anchoring means of the present invention.

.Generally stated, the present, invention contemplates thelprovision ofa removable anchoringpin in a ywedgeoi...the character aforesaid. Theanchoring pinis inserted throughaholeprovided in the exposedA rear end:of the wedge,so as to extend into contact with,va-ndy bedeformed by,engagement with thewall ofthel socket within which the wedge isreceived.nIn order-to accommodate the interior end vof the anchoring Din, andassist in deforming it, the wedge ispreferably provided, at a locationwithin'the socket, with a recessy ofa volumesumcientto tightlyaccommodate the projectingend of Athe anchoring pin. Theanchoring pinispreferably resilient, and may be an ordinary cotter key, Whichisextended through thev wedge so that its freeend (on the interior ,of thesocket) `extends in the direction which the wedge must be moved to`loosen the assembly within the zsocket. Such an anchoring pin not onlyinhibits4 loosening ,of the wedge, but positivclyrprevents lossof ,thewedge Ainthe event of accidential loosening, eventhough the bits may be10st.

Referring nowto the drawings, the head shown in Figure ll isprovidediwitha. pair;,of asocketszl. eachadapted to receiveapair ofcutting bitsg2, heldin position withinthesccketbyy a wedge 3. In theform shown in the drawing, the socket I; is tapered, being of largerarea at the upperend than at the lowery end. The wedgeis similarlytapered, so that-even inthe vabsenceof the bits 2, the wedge 3 cannotmove downwardlyfthrough the4 socket so as to become lost. Accordingly,the only directionjin-Which` the-wedge` may be kremoved from -the fsocketl `is iby; movement nof the wedge upwardly relative to; thesocket.

.The particularfform of wedge `shown inthe drawings is merelyillustrative orar-great variety of ,forms which :such wedges customarilytake,

and ,they invention is not. limited. to the conflguration of thewedgeas-shown.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a hole 4 in the rearend, which is the smaller end, of the wedge 3. On the side of the wedge3, which is concealed when the wedge is in operative position, the mouthof hole 4 is enlarged. as shownl at 5, the degree of enlargementdepending upon the volume of the extremity of the anchoring pin to beaccommodated therein.

An anchoring pin 6 is inserted in hole 4 after the Wedge 3 is inposition within socket I, and

driven home, so that only the head thereof extends beyond the outersurface of wedge 3. The pin 6 is considerably longer than hole 4, sothat a substantial extremity of the pin 6 is bent over and deformedwithin recess 5, against the inner wall of socket I, as shown clearly inFigure 2. Such deformation of the pin 6 not only provides a resilientanchorage against the interior wall of the socket, but also prevents thepin 6 from falling out of the hole 4. While the pin 6 is in positionwithin the hole 4, the wedge 3 cannot be removed from its socket I. Thedeformation of the pin 6 which occurs upon its being driven into contactwith the interior wall of the socket is, however, not such as topositively prevent the removal of the pin 6 by forces which may beapplied directly to its head. Accordingly, a sufficient draft applied atthe head of pin 6, in the direction in which the hole i extends, Willaccomplish removal of the pin 6 when it may be desired to remove thesame, so as to free the Wedge 3 for removal. The pin 6 need not beremoved to replace the bits 2, however. Although a harder blow isrequired to remove wedge 3 within its socket when the pin 6 is in placethan when no such pin is provided, the degree of anchorage provided bythe pin 6 is not such as to prevent the movement of the wedge relativeto the socket under heavy hammer blows, to an extent suiicient to free(in one direction) and tighten (in the other direction) the bits.

From the foregoing description, those skilled in the art should readilyunderstand the structure and operation of the anchorage, and realizethat it accomplishes its objects. While a full disclosure of oneembodiment of the invention has been given, it is to be distinctlyunderstood that the precise forni of drill head, socket, wedge, and bitshown in the accompanying drawings is merely illustrative, and that theanchorage of the present invention is applicable to all such wedge,socket, and bit assemblies, irrespective of the precise form thereof,provided there is some exposure of the wedge behind the socket, or inthe direction from which the wedge must be driven to loosen it. It istherefore to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limitedto the precise form shown, but that it is applicable at large to suchdrill heads, and is susceptible of many modications, without departingfrom the spirit of the present invention, or the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a mining drill head having detachable bits, a wedge for retainingthe bits in position and a socket for accommodating the wedge, theimprovement which comprises a resilient pin accommodated in a hole insaid wedge, one end of said pin being exposed beyond the boundaries ofsaid socket for a distance suiiicient positively to prevent removal ofsaid wedge from said socket, and the other end frictionally engaging 4an interior wall of said socket at a position concealed by the wedge.

2. For use with a mining drill having a socket for the reception of abit and a retaining wedge; the combination which comprises a wedgehaving a part projecting beyond the side of the socket opposite whichthe wedge is inserted in the socket, and a removable pin mounted in saidprojecting part of the wedge, said pin projecting outwardly from thewedge for a distance suiiicient positively to prevent removal of thewedge from the socket and inwardly from the wedge for a distancesufilcient frictionally to engage the interior wall of said socket.

3. In a mining drill head having detachable bits, a wedge for retainingthe bits in position and a socket for accommodating the wedge, theimprovement which comprises a resilient pin accommodated in a hole insaid wedge, one end of said pin being exposed beyond the boundaries ofsaid socket, and the other end engaging an interior wall of said socketat a position concealed by the wedge, said wedge having a recessover-lapping said hole and accommodating the end of said pin whichengages the interior socket wall.

4. In a. mining drill head having detachable bits, a Wedge for retainingthe bits in position and a socket for accommodating the wedge, theimprovement which comprises a resilient pin accommodated in a, hole insaid wedge, one end of said pin being exposed beyond the boundaries ofsaid socket, and the other end engaging an interior wall of said socketat a position concealed by the wedge, the hole in the said wedgeextending at a substantial angle from the perpendicular to the interiorwall of the socket with which the pin engages.

5. A wedge for use with a mining drill having a wedge and bit receivingsocket; said wedge being provided with a hole extending diagonallytherewith through and terminating at one face in a position which willbe exposed when the wedge is disposed within the socket and terminatingat the opposite face in a position which will be concealed when thewedge is disposed within the socket, said opposite face of the wedgebeing provided with a recess overlapping the mouth of said hole and indisalignment therewith.

ELMER J. HUCKSHOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 627,659 Spry June 27, 1899791,001 Bittenbender May 30, 1905 2,010,509 Cook Aug. 6, 1935 2,010,510Cook Aug. 6, 1935 2,109,613 Cook Mar. 1, 1938 2,114,799 McGlaunghlinApr. 19, 1938 2,237,133 Cook Apr. 1, 1941 2,289,935 Rufus July 14, 19422,510,751 McGlaughlin June 6, 1950

